Day 1 Experience

  • Our most in-demand session brings together leading investors and builders to break down:

    • Where AI is creating the fastest growth opportunities

    • How startups are outpacing incumbents

    • What it actually takes to get in the game today

10:45 - 12:00 PM

Aaron Holiday
Co-Founder & Managing Partner of 645 Ventures; MLT Alum

Emily Man
Partner of Primary Venture Partners

Ben Sun
Co-Founder, Partner & Co-CIO of Primary Venture Partners

Brad Svrluga
Cofounder & Managing Partner of Primary Venture Partners

3:30 - 4:45 PM

  • Building a career in the startup ecosystem often looks much different than in a more traditional corporate environment. Startup careers tend to be less linear and highly based on relationships and reputation. Success rarely comes from a single bold leap, it’s built through a series of strategic moves and relationships that compound over time. 

    Executive leaders from high-growth companies share how they built credibility, relationships, and opportunity across multiple startup roles and companies.Whether you’re exploring your first move into startups or planning your next leadership step, this session provides a practical roadmap for entering, moving, and succeeding within the startup space.

    You’ll leave with:

    • Strategies for transitioning from corporate roles into startups

    • Insight into how reputation capital drives advancement in venture-backed environments

    • Tools for identifying the right startup opportunities for your career stage

Lisa Lewin
Senior Advisor, Primary Ventures; CEO & Corporate Board Member

Nate Stewart
CEO, Materialize; MLT Alum

Shani Taylor
VP, Customer Experience & Solutions, Figma; MLT Alum

Roniesha Copeland
VP of Sales, Vercel; MLT Alum

Session 3

MLT20 Game Night Presented by Target

Unwind, connect, and have some fun at MLT Game Night, presented by Target. This casual, come-and-go experience will feature casino-style games, board games, signature drinks, appetizers, Target swag, and plenty of space to relax and meet new people.

Whether you’re stopping by for a quick game or staying to hang out, Game Night is a great way to close out the day and build new connections across the MLT community.

Day 2 Experience

  • Starting a venture requires vision, risk, flexibility, and great execution. Experienced entrepreneurs will share lessons from their entrepreneurial journeys that will inform and inspire others who want to capture ownership upside. They’ll share candid experiences and advice about how they navigated the personal, professional, and financial risks, tradeoffs, and opportunities they faced and how they managed the unexpected (or expected) challenges along the way.

    You’ll leave with:

    • An understanding of how entrepreneurs managed the risks, tradeoffs, opportunities, and challenges associated with entrepreneurship

    • Practical advice for making the leap to an entrepreneurial endeavor

12:00 - 1:15 PM

Mitchel Harris
CEO & Owner of Vertex Communication Group

  • Starting a venture requires vision, risk, flexibility, and great execution. Experienced entrepreneurs will share lessons from their entrepreneurial journeys that will inform and inspire others who want to capture ownership upside. They’ll share candid experiences and advice about how they navigated the personal, professional, and financial risks, tradeoffs, and opportunities they faced and how they managed the unexpected (or expected) challenges along the way.

    You’ll leave with:

    • An understanding of how entrepreneurs managed the risks, tradeoffs, opportunities, and challenges associated with entrepreneurship

    • Practical advice for making the leap to an entrepreneurial endeavor

1:30 - 2:45 PM

Brandon Jones
Product Manager at Google

David R. Jones
Founder and CEO of Castle Oak Securities

Ray Chery
President & CEO at Monsam Portable Sinks

  • What will shape the future of work and who will shape it? This closing plenary explores how technology, policy, and innovation are redefining economic opportunity, and what leaders must do now to stay ahead. Leave with a clearer point of view and a call to action for the role you can play in building what comes next.

3:30 - 4:45 PM

WHY ATTEND

Note From Our CEO

JOHN RICE

Founder & CEO of Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT)

This is our 20th anniversary, and we’re marking two decades of life-changing impact with our first-ever national conference.  In this unprecedented time of uncertainty and disruption, we're bringing the whole community together.

The conversations that are going to happen in New York, in those small groups, main-stage moments, and late-night reunions, are going to be the kind that you won’t forget. They won’t just inspire you, but will leave you equipped with more tools, more relationships, and more clarity about how to maximize your career and financial trajectory, personal well-being, and community impact.

You’ll hear from top leaders in the private, public, and social sectors, and you're going to meet people who unlock doors for you, ones you didn't even know could be opened. I've been part of a lot of gatherings in my life, and I can tell you honestly that this one is going to be very different.  This is homecoming, and I promise you will walk away with a feeling you’ll never get anywhere else. ”

“

JOHN RICE

Founder & CEO of Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT)

Learn more

“
I've been part of a lot of gatherings in my life, and I can tell you honestly that this one is going to be very different.  This is homecoming, and I promise you will walk away with a feeling you’ll never get anywhere else…”